


Seperation

by lalaluma



Category: Dragons: Riders of Berk (Cartoon), How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Zombies, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-03
Updated: 2013-05-03
Packaged: 2017-12-10 06:28:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/782878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lalaluma/pseuds/lalaluma
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The living dead have taken this island, and now they've taken his sister.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Seperation

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry.

“Sis?” Tuffnut called into the barn. They weren’t supposed to go outside right now, not with what had been happening. The Chief had assured everyone that supplies would get to them, and they would all survive as a village. But only fools believed that.

“I’ll be back in two days. Tops.” Ruffnut had promised. Of the Thorston twins, Ruff had always been the more anxious to keep moving and changing. Tuff could find one good rock to throw and be content with that rock for days or weeks, Ruff would want a new rock every throw. So after about 3 weeks with just her brother she longed for change. “I’m going to Astrid’s place. I’m sure she’s dying of boredom right now.”

And then she was gone.

The first night passed. All was silent, and Tuffnut about as well as he had been lately.

On the second night he awoke to a scream, only to realize it was his own. He’d had a terrible dream, that those monsters outside had gotten him. They had torn out one of his eyes and pulled on his lips until they ripped off by the time one reached down to snap his neck out of pity: and that’s when he awoke. He almost couldn’t stop, but soon he heard banging on the walls and doors. Slow, uneven, thuds surrounding him. Tuff’s eyes grew as he gripped his ears, trying to block out the terrifying sounds.

Crack.

He turned his head to the door to see a board beginning to bow.

Snap.

The center started to splinter out as the board gave.

Tuffnut scrambled to get to his feet and push their stuffed yak all the way to the door on his own. The board didn’t fully break, but it was broken enough to need a giant, wool covered doorstop. The blond winced as almost human fingers clawed through a crack, reaching for Tuff but coming back with no more than chunks of Yak fur.

They didn’t stay long. They never did. Their kind grew bored of the hunt easily, though honestly they didn’t really need to eat. The hunt was a curse for them. Those poor bodies, awoken from their eternal slumber and forced to kill by a traitor amongst the vikings. 

After they had long since left, Tuffnut ventured a look at what they had managed to do to the Thorston Tiwins’ prized stuffed Yak and was mortified.

Fur was missing in large patches, claw marks digging into the flesh beneath. A horm was half-gnawed off and the glass eye was missing along with one whole ear and half the other.

“That could have been me…” He gasped, finding air to be nearly impossible to take in at the moment. “…That could be Ruff.”

The second night, sleep evaded Tuffnut.

The following day, Tuffnut allowed himself to cry.

The third evening, he had enough. Tuffnut needed to know his sister way okay. He left while there was still daylight, quietly calling around Ruff’s usual haunts when he came upon the barn. His call heeded no response here, and he moved to leave when he hear a small noise that was undoubtedly his sister’s voice. It was small and rough, but it was hers.

“Ruff!” He exclaimed, trying to stay quiet as he rushed in without thinking. He found her resting against a pile of hay, shifting slightly. She was paler than usual, and her hair looked as if it was about to break off any minute, dry and unhealthy as it was. “Ruff?” He paused, taking a step back. “Ruff, are you alright?” Tuffnut raised his voice some, hoping maybe she just hadn’t heard him.

She shifted some at this, pushing up onto her arms but still facing away from her brother. It sounded as if she was trying to mumble something, but Tuff couldn’t understand her words. He moved forward a few steps to hear her when he noticed a deep red color staining the hay that his sister had been laying on.

Tuffnut’s eyes grew large, his hands trembled, and tears threatened to fall. He spoke as smooth as he could, “Sis…sis please, say something.”

Ruff turned some to face the noise she’d been hearing to stare into the eyes of what had once been her brother. He stood there, gagging and stumbling back, falling onto his back and knocking the wind from his chest. Ruff crawled up to him, trying to vocalize herself, but finding that hard without lips. For some reason her brother kept backing away, and for some reason that made her angry. Suddenly she was lunging at him, and just as suddenly the world turned backwards before blacking out entirely.

“Follow me!” Hiccup ordered Tuffnut, but he just sat there on the bark floor, staring at the now headless body of his twin sister. “Tuffnut, please! I know this is hard, but we have to move.”

The blond reached forward and let his fingers grace a braid that had been lopped off along with Ruff’s head by a powerful swing of Hiccup’s axe. He gripped it tight, entire body shaking. “Promise me.” Tuffnut’s voice was small and weak. “Promise me we won’t let her rot out here.”

Hiccup grabbed Tuff up by his arm, yanking him out of the barn and into town. “I promise, we’ll go back and get her in the morning. They come around less in sunlight.”

They let themselves into Hiccup’s home, re-boarding the door before either let the reality of the situation hit them.

Hiccup slid down the door to sit on the ground, letting the axe still freshly coated in blood slip from his fingers and fall to the floor. Ruffnut had been his friend. Maybe not his closest, but close enough that her death his him like a wrecking ball. It didn’t help that he had been the one to decapitate her, but she was already dead before that.

But Tuffnut had lost more than just a decent friend. He’d lost a sister, his closest friend, his entire family, and the one person on this earth who understood and loved him unconditionally. Losing Ruff was like losing a part of himself, only much worse due to their close emotional attachment. A loud, choked noise left his throat as he began to sob uncontrollably. The only words he was able to form were “No!” and “Ruff, sis, please.” over and over. As if this were some sort of practical joke she were playing and he was trying to tell her he’d had enough.

Hiccup pulled Tuffnut to his chest to try and soothe him, partially because the noise he was making was dangerous, but also because he genuinely cared for the boy and felt guilty for what he’d done. Tuff latched himself onto Hiccup in a heart beat, burying his face into the thick vest Hic wore to muffle the sounds of his sorrow.

The next morning they found and buried Ruff, and for the next five days Tuff laid on his side, unmoving on the ground floor of Hiccup’s home. The brunet had begun to worry his friend had passed, like how some animals die of sadness when their close friend dies, when he stirred. He ate some, then returned to his previous position.

Hiccup knew he couldn’t send Tuff back to that empty home filled with things that had belonged to both twins, and so he never offered to take him back there. Even once Tuffnut had mostly recovered, though his eyes still had a glazed, distant look to them, the subject was never breached.

They both knew how painfully Tuffnut need to be with another, and so it was agreed without words that he would stay for the remainder of this epidemic.

**Author's Note:**

> Someone on tumblr requested I make this blame them.


End file.
